


Journey to Clarity

by Gilli_chan



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Druids, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-11-18 16:27:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18123686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gilli_chan/pseuds/Gilli_chan
Summary: Don't try to avoid your dreams, they might turn into nightmares.





	Journey to Clarity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [marchingjaybird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marchingjaybird/gifts), [ponderosa121](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ponderosa121/gifts).



> This is a little backstory about how my sweet wood elf, not yet Druid, Nishi left his home and started on his journey, that would lead him into the D&D Campaign by the wonderful DM [marchingjaybird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marchingjaybird/pseuds/marchingjaybird)
> 
> I love our game, I love my party and I love my friends ♥ So this fic is for Mary, Nic, Niki and Pondy ♥
> 
> I hope you'll like it =)

A mischievious grin ran over the young black-haired elf’s face, when he saw his target, another more broad-shouldered elf, walk below the branch he was sitting on. He took aim with his sling and shot a blueberry at him.

“Hey!” the other elf exclaimed, running one hand through his short brown hair, finding it stained red.

The younger elf on the branch couldn’t hold back his laughter.  
“Hahaha! Did a bird take a crap on you?”

“Nishi! I knew it was you! Get down there!” the brown haired elf shouted up at Nishi, but he just kept laughing.

“Make me!”

The other elf eyed the tree Nishi was sitting on. He considered climbing it for a moment, but then decided against it. Instead his form started to shift and where there had stood an elf before, stood now a large brown bear.

“Oh shit!” Nishi exclaimed, grabbing hold on the tree.

The bear got up on his hindlegs and stepped closer to the tree, put his arms around the tree trunk and started shaking it.

Nishi tried holding onto the tree, but lost his grip and fell off his branch. He landed with a loud thud on the ground.  
“Oww.”  
Rubbing his head, Nishi looked up, to see the bear looming over him and in the next moment he found himself in the strong arms of the bear.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Higashi! Please, put me down!” he pleaded, but the bear was having none of it. He brough his face close to Nishi’s and licked him all over it.  
“Eeeeeww! Bear slobber!”

The bear turned back into the brown haired elf from before and grinned at Nishi, who he still held in a bearhug. ”That was the revenge for the blueberry.”

Nishi wiped off the bear drool with one sleeve of his blue shirt. “Okay, okay, yes, I deserved that.”

“You did, shorty.” Higashi said and let Nishi down. “Come, it’s dinner time. We shouldn’t keep Mom waiting.”

He took his younger brother’s hand and together they walked to a giant tree who’s crown seemed to reach up into the sky. Warm light was coming out of a door and several windows in it’s trunk.

Inside were two elven women and an elf girl, the older of the two women and the girl were setting the table, while the younger woman sat on the table and studied an amulet with intricate looking runes on it.

“Hey!” Nishi greeted. He let go of his brothers hand and rushed to the woman at the table. “Hey Minami! What are you looking at? Is that an item for a new spell?”

Minami looked up from her amulet, putting a stray lock of her ash blond hair behind one ear and smiled at Nishi. “Yes, it is.”

“What spell is it?” he asked curiously, trying to read the runes on the amulet.

“It is an Amulet of Calm Emotions. It will let me calm down people, who are frightened, or charmed.” she explained and put the amulet around her neck.

“Nishi, please go and wash your hands. We’ll start dinner as soon as your father’s home from the village council.” the other woman said, putting a breadbasket on the table.

“Okay, Mom.” he replied and went to a wooden bowl, which had grown out of the wall, filled with water. Higashi was already washing his hands and as soon as he was done, Nishi just put his face into it.

“Oh, Nishi.” his mother sighed. “I said wash your hands, not your face.”

Nishi took his face out of the water and dried it with a towel. “Yeah, but I needed to wash off this bear drool, it felt so icky.”

“Have you been annoying your brother again?” his mother asked, but before he could answer, the elf girl jumped excited to him.

“What did you do? What did you do? Tell me, I wanna know!” she exclaimed, while hopping up and down next to him, her short red hair bouncing with her.

Nishi grinned and replied, “I shot a blueberry at him. You should’ve seen his face Kita, he behaved like a bird had…”

“Nishi!” his mother interrupted him and gently pulled on his ear. “You’ve been a naughty little elf, have you?”

“Just a tiny little bit.” Nishi admitted, but added quickly, “But I apologized and then Higashi licked all over my face.”

“I got my revenge.” Higashi confirmed with a grin and ruffled his brother’s hair.

“Kids.” their mother sighed and let go of Nishi’s ear.

Just as they sat down at the table, the door swung open and a big white wolf entered with a huff and shook his head. He had a large scar on his right shoulder, which reached up his neck and lower jaw.

“Hakurô! What did I say about entering our home _like_ an animal?” Nishi’s mother scolded.

The white wolf’s form slowly shifted and a moment later, there stood a male elf, his long white hair fell over his shoulders, barely hiding the scar.  
“I’m sorry Fôna.” Hakurô apologized and sighed. “The twins were driving me crazy. I had to chase them out of the meeting room. I was so agitated, I forgot to change back, before coming home.”

“That sounds like it was really bad, you normally have a good handle on them, dad.” Higashi meant, returning his father’s hug while he went around the table to greet his family.

“Yeah, I don’t know what got into them, they behaved even more odd than usuall. It was like they weren’t themselves.” Hakurô replied and sighed deeply. “Anyway, let’s change the topic. What have you been up to today?”

Higashi talked about his very uneventful guard shift. Nishi about how he snuck out of his history lessons, to play on the trees, earning him pulled ears from both his parents. Kita told them how she had learned how to cast Flaming Sphere and how Minami had allowed her to assist her in one of her rituals.

After dinner everyone helped clean up and Nishi, Higashi and Kita went to their rooms higher up in the tree.

Nishi was sitting on a large branch outside oh his room’s window, dangling his legs, while he looked up at the stars through the leaves of his family’s house tree.

He was sitting there for some time, when he was joined by his older brother.  
“Hey shorty, shouldn’t you be in bed?”

Nishi looked at Higashi and shook his head. “No. I’m just gonna go into a Trance instead of sleeping, that way I can look at the stars some more.”

“You know you shouldn’t do that too often. It’s for when you don’t have the time to sleep, not so you can just stay up late.” Higashi commented concerned.

Nishi made a face and replied, “Minami does it all the time, why can’t I do the same?”

“Minami only goes into a Trance, if she has to perform a long ritual the next day.” his brother reminded him.

Nishi sighed unhappily and looked down at his dangling feet.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Higashi asked and put a hand on his little brother’s shoulder.

Nishi took a breath and turned his head back to Higashi.  
“Do you ever feel like you don’t belong here?”

“No?” Higashi replied confused and immediately frowned. “Did someone make you feel like you don’t belong here? Who? Tell me and they’ll wish they never bothered my little brother!”

His brother’s reaction made Nishi smile.  
“No one did. It’s just… a feeling I sometimes have.”

“But why?”

“Because I’m not a Druid, when everyone else is one.” Nishi replied with a sigh.

“Of course you’re a Druid.” Higashi insisted, but Nishi shook his head.

“How am I a Druid? I can neither cast magic, nor can I turn into an animal!” he exclaimed, jumped up and walked down the branch he had been sitting on.  
“Kita just learned how to cast Flaming Sphere and I can’t even cast Cantrips!”

“Nishi, you’re only twenty four, not everyone learns at the same time. Just give it time.” Higashi tried to calm his brother down, but he just kept shaking his head.

“Give it time? Kita is six years younger than I! How long am I supposed to wait?”  
Restless Nishi walked to down the branch some more, stopped infront of a small twig and turned back to his big brother.  
“I feel like I’m running out of time!”

“How can you…?” Higashi looked confused at his brother, “We’re Wood Elves! We live for over 700 years! How can you run out of time, when you’re not even an adult yet?”

“I don’t know!” Nishi exclaimed. “I don’t know.” He sighed and kicked air.  
“Sometimes, I just want to jump, turn into a raven and fly away, but I can’t.”

“Nishi…”

Nishi sighed and shook his head.  
“I don’t even know if I really want to be a Druid, or not.”

“Why wouldn’t you want to be a Druid? Everyone in our family and nearly everyone in our village is a Druid.” his brother stated.

“That’s exactly what I mean! If we all are just Druids, isn’t that very one-sided?”

“One-sided? Just Druids?” Higashi raised one brow and shook his head.  
“Come here shorty, sit with me. I want to talk to you without worrying that you fall off the tree.” he said, waving to make Nishi come over from where he stood on the branch.

“I’ve never fallen off the tree.”

“I don’t care! Come here!”  
Higashi didn’t wait for Nishi to make his way over, but instead conjured a vine out of the branch, which grasped Nishi’s leg and pulled him to his brother.

Nishi let out a surprised yelp, when the vine pulled him right into his brother’s arms.  
“I hate when you do that.”

Higashi chuckled and put an arm around Nishi’s shoulder again.  
“Shorty, first you need to stop stressing about becoming, or not becoming a Druid. It happens naturally, as most things do for us. Most likely when you least expect it.”

“How did you become a Druid?” Nishi asked now, leaning against his big brother.

“Me? Some years before you were born I walked by the Winding River. It was summer, so it didn’t have as much water as usual. I stopped at the riverbank, to look down if I’d find any fishes.” Higashi sighed and looked up into the treetop. “I stood too close to the edge of the riverbank and it broke off under me. Of course I held out my arms to break the fall, but instead I accidentally casted Mold Earth. Created a five feet deep hole right under myself.”

“Did you get hurt?” Nishi asked concerned, to which his brother shook his head.

“No, no, just a few scrapes. I did get terribly muddy though.” Higashi replied and then groaned. “Mom made me clean the whole kitchen floor, when I went home for a bath. Worst day ever!”

Nishi couldn’t help but laugh.

“See? When it happens, it happens.” Higashi said and ruffled his brothers hair.

Nishi nodded and smiled at his brother.  
“I can’t wait to turn into a raven!”

“A raven is definitely not the first animal you’re gonna turn into.”

“What? Why not?” Nishi asked confused.

“Because you can’t just turn into a flying animal on your first try.”

“But why? Ravens are small, it’s not like I’m trying to turn into a Giant Eagle!”

“It has nothing to do with size! Well, I mean sometimes it does, I couldn’t turn into a bear from the start either. But here it’s just that turning into some animals is more complicated then into others.” Higashi explained and shook his head. “Why am I even explaining this? You should know this! Did you never listen in your Druid lessions?”

“No, not really.” Nishi admitted. “Not like I’m a Druid and can put it to practice anyway.”

“NIshi!” his brother groaned loudly. “Okay, that’s it! Go to bed, or I’ll make you!”

“What? But…” Nishi wanted to protest, but got interrupted by his brother.

“No! Bed! Now!” Higashi said frustrated, grabbed Nishi by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him through the window into his room.

Inside, Higashi sighed heavily and let go of his little brother.  
“Look, I get that you think you don’t have a use for it right now, but you never know when you might need that knowledge. Regardless if you’re a Druid, or not.”

“Okay, okay, I get it. I’ll listen better next time.” Nishi pouted.

“Good.” Higashi grinned and ruffled Nishi’s hair. “Good night, shorty.”

“Good night.” Nishi replied when his brother left the room.

When Nishi was alone in his room, he just flopped onto his bed, which, like the rest of his furniture, had grown out of the wall, into his pillows. He pulled the blanket over himself and went to sleep.

 

Nishi stood in the middle of the village inside Dew Forest. Looking around he couldn’t see anyone else, so he walked around until he saw the familiar shape of his brother’s bear form.

“Higashi! Where is everyone?” Nishi called out to the bear, running towards him.

The bear didn’t react to Nishi’s words and just kept staring at him with his pitch black eyes.

“Higashi?” Nishi asked, confused by his brother’s behaviour.

“When Nishi got closer, the bear’s fur changed from brown to black and his until now black eyes started to glow red.

Nishi stopped short and looked with horror at the bear. “You… are not my big brother...”

As if in answer, the bear let out a terrifying roar. “AAAAARK!!!!”

Frightened Nishi turned on his heels and ran as fast as he could.  
“AAAAAAAH! MONSTER BEAR!”

In the same moment the bear charged forward, chasing after Nishi. “VEEEN!”

Still screaming in terror, Nishi ran through the village looking for help.  
“HELP! MOM! DAD! HELP ME!”

But no one answered, the village stayed as silent as before.

“DAAAAAR!” the bear roared, chasing after Nishi. Close enough to take swipes with his large claws at the young elf, but never close enough to actually hit him.

Fleeing now out of the village into the actual forest, Nishi saw how the normally green and peaceful forest became darker and darker. 

Nishi was now running, for what felt to him like an eternity, through the now pitch black Dew Forest. Not even his darkvision could help him in this unnatural darkness, while he was trying to escape the demonic bear. “KHAAAAVEEE!”

He was just about to give up and let his tired legs rest, when four glowing lights appeared infront of him. They pulsated in a bright white light and then vanished into the thicket of the forest.

Nishi was about to despair again, as his only source of light was leaving him again, when a white glowing Raven appeared next to him. It flew around Nishi, as if it was trying to tell him to follow. Nothing to lose, Nishi followed the Raven through the branches, it’s glow lighting a path through the darkness.

The Raven never flew too far out of Nishi’s field of view, until it vanished through some leafy bushes.

Nishi, fearing he’d lose the raven and be left alone in the dark again, pushed forward through the foliage and stopped short, when he found himself standing at a cliff, looking down at the sea.

Stunned by this unexpected view, there was no ocean close to the Dew Forest, Nishi let his eyes wander over the waters infront of him.

He had never seen an ocean before and yet he knew exactly, that this was the Sea of Sages he was looking at.

Taking in the view Nishi forgot everything around him and looked down to the cove at the foot of the cliff.  
It seemed so familiar. As if he had seen it before. As if he had been there before.

He decided to take a closer look at the cove and turned to find a way down the cliff. Just as he turned around, he found himself face to face with the demonic bear.  
“Oh, no…” Nishi said quietly, his voice filled with terror.

The bear was now looming over Nishi, his devilish glowing eyes fixed on him. One moment later he pounced at Nishi, pressing the young elf against the stony ground, his tooth-filled maw infront of Nishi’s face, he opened it and roared. “DARKHAVEN!!!”

 

“AAAAAH!” screaming Nishi woke up.

Not realizing the dream was over, Nishi leaped out of his bed and rushed out of his room, down one of the large branches leading up to it. Not looking where he put his feet, he nearly fell off the branch twice before he reached the living room. He pushed the door open and run inside.

His family was sitting at the dinner table and looked to him when he entered.  
“Oh, good morning Nishi, you’re up early today.” his mother greeted him surprised.

He didn’t answer and just ran right into her arms.  
“Monster! There’s a monster! Monster!”

“What? A monster?” Kita exclaimed, turned into a fox and hid under the table.

Higashi jumped up from the table, one hand on his short sword he went out the door and came right back after a moment.  
“There’s nothing! Did you dream that?” he asked, standing in the doorway.

Hakurô had left his place too. He kneeled down infront of Nishi and looked at him with concern. “I haven’t seen anyone this frightened since Dixie ran screaming from a black dragon.”

“Hakurô, you remembering your adventures from 200 years ago won’t help Nishi to snap out of it.” Fôna said, holding her son in her arms. She tried to sooth him with calming words, but Nishi wouldn’t stop shaking with fear, muttering “Monster, monster…” quietly infront of himself.

Minami had been watching the whole scene from her place at the table and stood up now too, calmly walking to her brother.  
“Father, would you please move to the side.”

“Yes, of course.” her father replied and stepped aside.  
Minami put one hand on the amulet around her neck and closed her eyes. Concentrating on the spell contained in the amulet, she held out her free hand. As she casted the spell, her free hand started to glow and a bright, golden light filled the room, washing over everyone but Higashi, who still stood by the door out of the spell’s range.

When the light subsided, Kita came out from under the table and turned back into an elf.  
“Wow.”

Minami didn’t pay attention to her and instead laid her hands on her younger brother’s shoulders. “How are you feeling?”

Nishi took a deep breath and exhaled. “Better.”

“Can you tell us what happened? Where did you see that monster?”

“I had the worst nightmare! It was terrifying! Everything felt so real!” Nishi replied and then told them what had happened in his dream.

Hakurô frowned and ran his thumb over the the scar on his jaw.  
“That sounds like more than just a normal nightmare. More like you had a forboding dream.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t just a very bad dream, dad?” Higashi asked sceptical, having joined the others now that the spell had faded. “I mean, it was one bad dream, not like he had another like it before, right?”

“Uhm, well…” Nishi mumbled and looked to the side.

His father noticed this and crouched down infront of him again.  
“Did you have this dream before, Nishi?”

“Not the same, but… similar? There was no monster just, well, everyone. From the village. You’d all keep saying the same thing, over and over. It was really creepy. I didn’t want to dream about it again, so I just meditated instead of sleeping for the last two weeks.” Nishi replied reluctantly.

“I told you, meditating is not meant as a substitute for real sleep!” Higashi said annoyed, getting a stern look from his father.

“Not now Higashi.” Hakurô said and turned back to Nishi.  
“Nishi, what word did you hear in your dreams? Do you remember?”

Nishi nodded, “Yes, you kept saying Darkhaven.”

Taken aback Hakurô stared at his son, repeating his words. “Darkhaven… Oh, dear Great Oak.”

“What’s Darkhaven?” Kita asked now curiously, sitting on the table to get a better view.

“Darkhaven is the town, where the great heroes started their journey two hundred years ago.” her father explained and turned his attention back to Nishi. “Are you sure about that, Nishi?”

Nishi nodded, whereupon Hakurô turned to his wife.  
“Fôna, you and Minami are the experts regarding dreams, what do you think?”

Fôna closed her eyes for a moment and opened them again. “Isn’t that obvious? You don’t have to be an expert on dreams, to see that something is going to happen in Darkhaven. The only two question are: what is going to happen? And why is Nishi dreaming about it?”

“Yes, but I love hearing your opinion.” Hakurô replied with a smile and then became serious again. “Nishi, what do you think you have to do?”

Nishi looked at his father, chewing on his lip before he answered.  
“I have to… I _have_ to go. I have to go to Darkhaven!”

“What? By the Great Oak, no! No you don’t!” Higashi protested at once.

“Higashi!” his father said stood up. “That is not for you to decide.”

“Dad! Nishi’s still a kid! He can’t fight! He can’t even cast spells!” Higashi argued.

“I have a sling.” Nishi replied, just for his brother to roll his eyes.

“That’s a toy!” Higashi threw his hands up and exhaled frustrated. “If you really let him go, then I’ll join him! I won’t let my little brother chase after some nightmare monster alone!”

Their father nodded unserstanding. “Nishi, did you see your brother in your dream, or were you alone?”

Nishi shook his head. “No, Higashi wasn’t there, but…” he paused, trying to find the right words, “there were… four lights and a glowing raven, that flew around me and showed me the way.”

Hakurô thought for a moment and then started grinning. “It seems you will leave the village alone.”

“What? Dad! You can’t be serious!” Higashi protested again.

“Higashi, I understand how you feel, but I think Nishi is meant to do this alone.”

“He’s still a kid! He can’t cast spells! Let me go with him!” Higashi pleaded, but his father shook his head.

“No. I wasn’t much older then Nishi, when I went out for my first adventure. This will be a good way for your brother to grow up.”

Higashi couldn’t believe what his father just told him and stormed with an angry growl out of the house tree.

Hakurô sighed and shook his head.

“Dad, Higashi’s right. I can’t cast any spells.” Nishi admitted sadly. “I think and concentrate to cast a spell, but it never works.”

Hakurô crouched down infront of Nishi again. “With what do you think, when you try to cast spells?”

“With my head?” Nishi replied confused.

His father smiled and put a hand on his head. “Nishi, we are Druids, we don’t cast spells with out heads, leave that to the Wizards.”  
He took his hand off of Nishi’s head and put it on his chest.  
“We cast them with our hearts, our intuition. It’s our instincts that tell us which spells we need to cast. That you haven’t casted a spell yet, just means you didn’t have the need for one yet.”

“You mean, like when Higashi casted Mold Earth, when he was falling?”

“Yes, like that.”

“Haku, do you really think this is a good idea?” Fôna asked now, looking at her husband.

“Yes, why do you mean, my love?”

“Because, if I may remind you, you died on your adventure. And contrary to our son, you were already an experienced Druid.”

“That is true, I did die, but I also learned a lot and met new people.” Hakurô replied, smiling at his wife.

Fôna rolled her eyes at him, but couldn’t hide a smile.

Nishi was fidgeting with the hem of his blue shirt, looking unsure at his father.  
“What am I supposed to do now? I mean, I _have_ to go to Darkhaven, but I don’t know how to get there.”

Hakurô smiled and stood up, holding out one hand for Nishi, who took it and let his father pull him to his feet.

“First, you need to get your backpack and then I’ll help you choose the right items for your journey.”

“I wanna help too!” Kita exclaimed excited and hopped off the table.

“Oh, of course.” Hakurô replied. He put his arms around his kids and together they went to Nishi’s room.

Nishi took his backpack out of his closet, which had grown out of the tree too, and put it on his bed. While his father made sure that everything Nishi would take with him would fit inside, Kita had run off into her own room and then came back with a small bag in her hands.

“My secret candy stash. You can take it with you.” she said and handed Nishi the bag.

“Really? Thank you!” Nishi replied with a big smile on his face and hugged his sister.

Hakurô smiled at his kids and then remembered something.   
“I might have something for you too.”  
He left the room and returned after a few minutes, a bedroll under his arm.  
“I remembered that I still have my old bedroll. Let’s see if it’s still good.”

He laid the bedroll on Nishi’s bed and rolled it out, just to find several tears and moth holes in it.

“Oh no. It seems my bedroll didn’t take the two centuries in the closet as well as I thought.”

“I could’ve told you that, before you emptied the whole closet.” Fôna said, standing in the doorway to Nishi’s room with a bedroll under her arm.

“Fôna! Where did you find that?”

“In the storage room of course.” she said, as she walked to them, handing Nishi the bedroll and giving Hakurô a kiss on his cheek. “Haku, you are the wisest Druid of this village, but sometimes you have the memory of a goldfish.”

The four of them then continued to fill Nishi’s backpack with supplies and food for his journey.

 

With everything ready, Nishi shouldered his backpack.  
“I think I’m ready.” he said, trying to look confident.

“Wait, take this with you.” his father said and handed him a map. “You never left the Dew Forest, so it’s better if you have a map.”

“Thanks, dad!” Nishi said with a big grin. “Which way should I take?”

“Normally I’d tell you to stick to the main roads, but I think you might want to hurry, so just go southwestward. It may take some time, but Darkhaven is a well known town, so if you get lost don’t be afraid to ask, everybody knows the way.”

“Okay, I will.” Nishi replied and then asked. “Have you been there?”

“A few times.” Hakurô smiled. “It’s a nice and quiet town, you’ll like it.”

“Cool! Oh! Dad, did you ever meet the heroes, when you were in Darkhaven?” Nishi asked now, whereupon Hakurô smiled, but just as he was about to answer his son’s question, he got interrupted.

“Nishi, shouldn’t you be on your way? Your dream seemed very urgent.” Minami said now, cutting any further delay short.

“Yeah, I know, I had hoped Higashi would be here too.” Nishi replied frowning.

“I’m sure he’s waiting at the edge of the village.” she reassured him.

Nishi nodded and hugged everyone goodbye.

He left their house tree and walked towards the entrance of the village where, his sister had been right, Higashi was waiting.

When Nishi got closer Higashi uncrossed his arms and took a step towards his younger brother.

“So you’re really leaving.” Higashi said, when he saw the large backpack Nishi was carrying.

“Yeah, I need to.” Nishi replied and added, “Please don’t try to stop me.”

“I’m not gonna stop you, I know I can’t. I just wanted to give you this.” Higashi said and took a small carved figure of a Raven out of his pocket. “I had planned to give this to you, when you cast your first spell, but it seems I’m not gonna be there when you do.”

He handed the Raven figure to Nishi, who took it at once and looked at it in awe.  
“Did you make this? I love it! Thank you!”

“I did.” his brother confirmed with a smile and then got serious again. “I really wished you wouldn’t go. At least not unarmed.”

“I’m not unarmed, I have my sling with me!”

“That’s a toy!” Higashi said, rolling his eyes.

“It’s not a toy, if I load it with stones. Just because I only shoot berries at you, doesn’t mean I don’t practice with ammunition that could actually hurt someone.” Nishi said with a serious look on his face.

Higashi blinked at Nishi and embarrassed ran one hand through his hair. “I really should give you more credit, huh? Come here.” he said and pulled his brother into a hug.  
“Be careful, okay shorty.”

“I’m not making any promises.” Nishi grinned, returning his brother’s hug, who in turn gently pulled on Nisho’s ear.

“Cheeky little elf.” Higashi laughed and ruffled his hair. “Take care.”

“You too.” Nishi replied, ended the hug and went back on his way to leave the village, waving Higashi goodbye.

At first he approached the edge of the forest that surrounded the village slowly, but the closer he got, the faster he walked, until he was running towards it.  
He took a big jump between two trees and was outside of Dew Forest for the first time.

Nishi looked back to where he came from, but instead of the lush green forest all he saw was a thorny thicket. 

He blicked at it and then grinned wide. “I’m outside! Woohoo haha!”

Nishi turned his back at it again, looked at his map and nodded.  
“Darkhaven, here I come!”


End file.
